One Punch Simulator

The calm before the storm

At last, Taro was starting to get his strength back. He was finally eating food and drinking water. The pink in his cheeks had come back, and vitality overall was returning to his form. For the first time in god knows how long, the boy finally looked... alive.

Megami had been making sure to check on Taro at least once a day. While his physical health was rapidly improving, his mental health still had a long way to go. The good news was they were making some progress. Taro was beginning to open up to Megami, and had regained some of his old spunk. He was nowhere near where he had been before, but things were headed in a good direction.

So it was hard to describe Megami's feelings when she saw Taro's bed was empty again. The sheets were torn up and the blanket was tossed on the ground, causing Megami to crease her brow.

"Mr. Yamada?" she called.

She heard a scream from the balcony. She raced out there, holding out her fists. And what she saw caused her to stop completely.

Taro was being pinned down to the ground by none other than Kuroko Kamenaga. A sword was pointed at his throat, about to dig into the flesh. Blood poured down Taro's forehead. He was panting heavily.

"Kamenaga-san!" Megami boomed. "What is the meaning of this?"

Kuroko's face shadowed over. She raised the sword above Taro's head.

"Do not," Megami told her, voice icy. "If you attempt to kill him, then you have officially betrayed me, Kamanega."

"'Officially...'" Kuroko uttered with distaste. "Of course. Nothing is official until you see it, Megami."

"Kamenaga, I don't understand," Megami spoke, tone still icy. "Why are you doing this?"

Kuroko didn't respond. She focused back on Taro.

"You are my most trusted advisor, Kamenaga," Megami said, walking over to her. "I would rather not take action against you."

Kuroko didn't say anything.

"You're my friend, Kuroko," Megami said, her voice quiet. "I don't want to fight you."

"'Friend'?" Kuroko tch-ed. "Don't play games with me, Megami. You have no friends. And you are no friend of mine, either. You took everything from me." She pointed her sword at Megami, trembling. "I've always been in second place, you know. My parents prefer my brother over me. Compared to him, I'm just a hindrance, the second child. When I joined the Hero Association, I couldn't reach S Class. So I tried to get to the top of A Class, but instead I got stuck at second place again, and I couldn't get past Sweet Mask. The only time I won something was when I became Student Council President. Finally, I was in first place." Her weapon trembled. "And then you came along."

"Kuroko..." Megami breathed.

"You took the one thing I'd won away from me," Kuroko spat. "I was humiliated. I was back in second place again. But..." She gritted her teeth. "I'm sick of being second rate. I'm going to be number one again. And that starts..." Her eyes flashed behind her glasses, "... with taking you down, one step at a time."

Megami scowled, crossing her arms. "But how did you know Taro was here? I kept the information about him completely confidential. You should have no reason to attack him."

Kuroko continued pointing her weapon at Megami. Then Megami realised.

"I see..." Megami breathed out. "Of course, the Yandere girl wanted him to die, which means..." She glared at Kuroko. "You are working with her."

Kuroko jumped towards Megami, swinging her sword. Megami slid out of the way, reaching for her own weapon.

"I can't believe you, Kamenaga," Megami hissed. "You have truly sunken too low for redemption if you agreed to work with her."